1994 Chevrolet Impala SS: the LT1 returns

Chevrolet's own February 14, 1994 press release describes the new Impala SS as the first Impala SS since 1969, built off the Arlington, Texas line with a 260-hp LT1, a 4L60-E automatic, and four-wheel ABS, and states that more than 5,000 dealer orders were already in hand before the car reached showrooms. It was offered only in black with a gray interior, built as a 5.7-liter LT1 V8 version of the Caprice sedan; Wikipedia gives 6,303 sold for the year.¹

That 6,303 figure comes from Wikipedia citing nookandtranny.com, an enthusiast production page that is now dead; this record's own production note flags that the same page's own three-year total, 69,768, does not actually equal the sum of its own yearly figures, which add to 69,678, a hundred-unit internal discrepancy in the underlying source this record does not attempt to resolve. A contemporary 1994 review by Jim Mateja separately reports that Chevrolet planned a run of 6,058 cars for the model year, a figure this record's own key facts are careful to label a plan rather than a build count, distinct from the 6,303 actually reported sold. The best missing primary source, GM or Arlington assembly production records or the GM Heritage Impala SS information kit, could not be retrieved due to a website access error.^1,2

The Mateja review gives a starting price of $21,920, though this record's own price note flags that the review does not state whether destination charges are included in that figure. The LT1 5.7-liter V8 with sequential-port fuel injection is rated 260 hp, with a 330-lb-ft torque figure drawn from Wikipedia specifically; this record's own engine note explains that the factory sheets it draws on give horsepower only, so the torque figure comes from a different kind of source than the power figure sitting beside it. The only transmission documented is an electronically controlled four-speed automatic, standard equipment.^2,1

Chevrolet's own 1994 order guide underscores just how limited the car's specification actually was: one color, Black under code 41; one trim, gray leather in a 45/45 split under code AQQ2; and one power team, the LT1 paired with the MX0 automatic and a 3.08 limited-slip axle, all on the single model 1BN19. Beyond that single specification, a handful of regular-production options round out the order guide: the SSAB base preferred equipment group; the SSA1 preferred equipment group 1, bundling an automatic day/night mirror, a rear defogger with heated outside mirrors, a power antenna, a passenger six-way power seat, remote keyless entry with trunk release, and Twilight Sentinel; the C49 electric rear-window defogger, included with SSA1; the R9W rear-window-defogger-not-desired option, incompatible with SSA1; the K05 engine block heater; the U1C ETR AM/FM stereo with seek-scan, a digital clock, a compact disc player, coaxial front and extended-range rear speakers, and Delco-Loc II; the VK3 front license-plate bracket; and California and New York emissions options, YF5 and NG1 respectively.

Specification detail is thorough for the year: P255/50ZR-17 performance tires on 17-inch cast aluminum wheels, a 115.9-inch wheelbase, 214.1-inch overall length, 77.0-inch overall width, 55.7-inch overall height, 20.4 cu ft of luggage space, a 23.0-gallon fuel tank, and the same 3.08:1 limited-slip rear axle already named in the order guide. No performance-test data and no identification detail were found in an accessible documented source for the year, so those sections carry nothing further in this record beyond the production, price, engine, option, and specification data already described.